The growing demand for telecommunications services has caused a corresponding increased demand for weatherproof cabinets that are capable of accommodating telecommunications equipment installed outdoors or in other weather exposed environments. Such cabinets are typically used to enclose electronic equipment along with batteries that provide backup power to the electronic equipment in the event that the normal power source (e.g., from a commercial utility) is interrupted. Modern telecommunications equipment, particularly newer generation electronic equipment and batteries, often require different ambient environments to function optimally. Thus, different ambient environments may need to be provided for such equipment within the same cabinet.
Existing cabinets have typically displayed shortcomings in the capability to provide different ambient environments needed to facilitate the optimal operation of modem telecommunications equipment. For example, some existing cabinets enclose electronic equipment and batteries in the same compartment and, thus, do not provide different ambient environments for this equipment. Other existing cabinets enclose equipment, such as the electronic equipment and the batteries, in different compartments, but fail to provide sufficient cooling of this equipment—thus, such cabinets also fail to provide the required ambient environments. Further, some existing cabinets also fail to prevent the undesirable accumulation of excessive particles and debris on enclosed equipment, such as the batteries, which may make maintenance and repairs difficult and may also contribute to decreased operating performance and life-span.
Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that there is a need for improved systems and methods which address the above-mentioned, as well as other, shortcomings of existing systems and methods.